# Chapter 19: Living Mist
Although Nostradamus did not speak these words with a heavy tone, and even his scolding was merely like a complaint, Joshua keenly noticed that when the old mage said the word "box," there was a clear unnaturalness in his expression.
This unnaturalness could be explained in many ways, such as embarrassment, or annoyance at the trouble, but the most likely reason was confusion and worry born from not knowing how to handle it.
And something that could cause concern for an Ultimate-rank old mage could absolutely not be just an ordinary box.
"Need help?"
Joshua spoke up. Given his relationship with Nostradamus, this was a very natural thing to say. The warrior reminded him: "The black mist has already affected some buildings in the city center. It needs to be dealt with as soon as possible."
"Yes. The area near the Mage Association is not ordinary residential districts." No further explanation was needed. Everyone knew how serious it was for such an accident to occur in the imperial capital. Putting away the communication magic array in his hand, the old mage's expression turned serious: "That box is a troublesome thing. Perhaps you don't know about it, but it has caused quite a stir in the mage community recently... Let's not talk about its origin for now. The box was originally being studied by another faction of mages in the Association. Those people were not weak in strength, but an accident still happened. Now they want me to solve such a big problem."
Nostradamus's expression became very complicated: "They really have no shame, actually coming to beg me."
"So you need help."
Joshua shrugged. He ran through his memories of strange items related to boxes and black mist from his previous life, forming a rough idea of what they might be facing, and then said calmly: "We also need to go to the Mage Association to find someone anyway. The sooner we set out, the sooner we solve it."
"Come to think of it, the last time we came to the imperial capital, an accident also happened."
While the warrior and the old mage were talking, Ying, standing nearby, nodded thoughtfully: "No, not just that. Every time Master goes out, accidents seem to happen."
"Not just going out either, my sister."
The black-haired boy shook his head and added with a shrug: "Even when Master is at home drinking and reading the newspaper, a demon dragon will sneak in to assassinate him. I bet—"
Lin didn't finish his sentence, because Joshua had already pressed down on his head and shook it threateningly. The Divine Mechanism boy immediately indicated he would shut up and say no more.
"...Although I'm sorry, please forgive my rudeness."
Dimoer, who had been very silent throughout the journey, suddenly spoke. His emotions had completely calmed down from Israel's earlier reprimand. After hearing Joshua and Nostradamus's conversation, he thought for a moment, then shook his head calmly: "I still have some matters to attend to... I probably can't accompany you to deal with this."
"No problem." The old mage nodded slightly: "Your matters are also important. Finish them as soon as possible."
This was not unexpected. Dimoer had clearly had things to do when he was at the library earlier. Although his actions had changed due to the appearance of Joshua and Nostradamus, now that everything was settled, it was about time for him to go back and continue his own affairs.
Nodding slightly to Nostradamus, the Second Prince turned to look at Joshua. He and the warrior exchanged a silent gaze for a moment, then without a word, he turned and left.
"Don't disappoint your father's expectations."
Just as Dimoer was about to disappear around the corner of the corridor, Nostradamus spoke calmly. The other party clearly heard these words. His body paused for a moment before he continued walking away.
After the Second Prince completely disappeared from everyone's sight, the old mage let out an almost imperceptible sigh. Then, he said calmly: "Then let's set out as soon as possible—Joshua, come closer to me. I'm going to prepare for teleportation."
"Doesn't the imperial capital have a barrier array that blocks teleportation?"
Although he asked this question, Joshua was not surprised. He motioned for Ying and Lin to come closer, and the three of them walked to Nostradamus's side: "I originally thought you were affected by it too."
"The last modification of that array was presided over by me."
Deep blue fluorescent light appeared around the old mage's body, and the surrounding space showed ripples like lake water. The corners of his mouth slightly lifted, and he said with a smile: "Which mage would miss this great opportunity and not add a backdoor of their own? For Israel's sake, I generally try not to use it, but this is a special situation—get ready, we're going!"
The next moment after he finished speaking, accompanied by a slight fluctuation in space-time, the group disappeared from Morlai Palace. The Emperor in the Holy Radiance Hall also sensed this almost imperceptible ripple. He chuckled and shook his head.
—Imperial Capital, Mage Association, near Truth Avenue.
It was late at night, but continuous screams were endless. Under the light of Glowstone Lamps, more than a dozen City Guard squads were busily moving back and forth in the darkness. They evacuated citizens, cleared roads, and set up blockade lines. These tall soldiers, clad in armor and wearing cloaks with sword-and-shield emblems, expressionlessly dispersed the other citizens who seemed to want to watch the commotion, while loudly warning: "Unrelated personnel, evacuate Truth Avenue immediately. An accident has occurred in the Imperial Royal Mage Association. Surrounding citizens, please leave your residences and take shelter near Saint Elaine Church, the Municipal Hall, and other areas. This is not a drill. This is a high-level alert order. The Empire will compensate for all your losses. Repeat, unrelated personnel..."
Their vigorous voices echoed on both sides of the street. The citizens who wanted to watch also realized that this was not a drill but something real. Remembering the demon sacrifice incident half a month ago, and seeing the serious expressions of the City Guards, they all left uneasily.
At the other end of the street, behind the cover of buildings, patches of undulating, condensed, and eerie black mist were slowly spreading outward, centered on the completely shrouded Royal Mage Association.
It looked like ordinary fog, but the wind could not move it. Pure darkness was nurtured within it. Looking from the outside in, nothing could be seen at all, as if the things swallowed by the mist had gone to another world.
As time passed, the black mist slowly crept over roadside signposts and abandoned carriages. Immediately, the sound of something being corroded could be heard, sizzling. Through the mist, one could vaguely see that these signposts and carriages, enveloped by the black mist, melted like soft mud, turning into a sticky, unknown substance on the ground.
Around them, the lower parts of rock buildings shrouded by the black mist had no problems and still stood firm, but wooden houses collapsed one after another. By the roadside, iron lamp posts touched by the black mist showed signs of rust and decay within just a few seconds. Strangely, the Glowstone Lamps still flickered within the black mist.
At the edge of this eerie black mist, many mages were casting spells, seemingly trying to stop the mist from spreading. Their actions were quite effective. As spells were released one after another, large patches of black mist dissipated and retreated. But there were simply too few of them. The speed at which they dispersed the black mist was not even one-tenth of the mist's natural spreading speed. Moreover, as time went on, the mist seemed to adapt to the power of magic.
It began to... resist.
A white-haired mage, who had just cast a powerful spell, watched in shock as the black mist, which had been spreading, paused for a moment when hit by the shockwave, and even showed obvious signs of contraction. But in the next instant, as if the attack had never existed, it continued to spread outward, its speed even showing a tendency to increase.
"What the hell?!"
The old mage was dumbfounded. He was a veteran who had participated in the war against the Orcs and returned alive. Within the entire Mage Association, aside from Nostradamus, his strength was enough to rank in the top five. The Gold-rank spell [Granier City-Crushing Palm] he had just charged up, if it had hit solidly, would have been enough to blast a dragon to pieces, turn a giant mammoth into a pulp, and if aimed at the ground, would have triggered a small earthquake. But against the black mist, the result was stopping it for less than half a second.
"This thing has magic-eating resistance. Damn it, Hasso and the others are probably in trouble."
Immediately realizing that the people in the second group studying the Erebos Box were probably not hiding but truly lost in the black mist, the white-haired mage felt troubled: "Too targeted. Magic-eating resistance only appears on magical beasts living in dead magic zones. How can a patch of mist have it? What method can deal with this black mist?"
A holy beam of light answered his question.
Beside this mage, a pale silver beam suddenly appeared. It shot straight into the black mist, instantly piercing through the eerie fog. Soon after, more pale silver beams appeared. These beams shot into the black mist from various directions on the street, forming a crisscrossing network within it, completely suppressing the surging black mist.
The black mist seemed to have encountered its natural enemy. It began to continuously retreat. Buildings that had been swallowed and eroded by it earlier, with obvious signs of corrosion, reappeared before everyone's eyes.
"It seems Holy Punishment Light is effective against this stuff."
A cheerful male voice echoed through the street. The leader of the [Hammer of Freedom] Knight Order, Paladin Robzek, who had just walked out of Morlai Palace, had holy light flames surging around his body as if they were burning. Maintaining the light net that suppressed the entire black mist sea, he turned and smiled at the silent white-haired mage beside him: "Each has their own specialty. When dealing with this kind of eerie thing, you mages are definitely not as professional as us."
The Church of the Seven Gods' embassy delegation was staying not far from the Royal Mage Association. They had naturally noticed the eerie event happening here and had come to help.
The white-haired mage showed no displeasure. He was no young hothead who would get angry over such a small matter. Moreover, mages should pursue correctness and truth—this silver-haired Paladin was right. Dealing with something that had magic-eating resistance should not be done with magic. The holy light of clergy was indeed a good choice.
But at that moment, panicked shouts came from the other side of the City Guards: "The mist! The mist is boiling!"
"What?!"
Both Robzek and the white-haired mage were stunned for a moment. The next moment, the silver light net formed by Robzek's holy light shattered with a bang, turning into countless dissipating light particles. The suppressed black mist sea, as if boiling, began to spread outward even more violently than before.